Chapter 103 - 67: Divine Travel Realm, Grand Daoist

Chapter 103: Chapter 67: Divine Travel Realm, Grand Daoist

At the Shouyi Temple’s station.

Seeing Vice Temple Master Liang’s dilemma, Li Yinsheng took the initiative to speak. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Liang. If Shouyi Temple refuses to let this go and comes looking for trouble, just push me out to face them. I will bear full responsibility for this matter and absolutely will not drag your esteemed temple down."

"No, no, no! Fellow Daoist Li, what are you saying!" Vice Temple Master Liang quickly waved his hands. "You are a guest invited by our Huang Bamboo Temple, and you suffered a grievance on our territory. How could we pretend not to know?

"Besides, Shouyi Temple truly went too far this time, publicly targeting another Daoist Temple. Getting taught a lesson is just them reaping what they sowed."

Vice Temple Master Liang didn’t ask why Shouyi Temple had instructed its disciples to target Xuanzhen Temple. It had long ceased to be a secret that Shouyi Temple coveted Xuanzhen Temple’s Spirit Vein. How could he not know? He was much more concerned about something else.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you just mentioned that Shouyi Temple targeted and bullied your esteemed temple’s steward. But where is this steward?" Vice Temple Master Liang asked.

"Right in front of you." Li Yinsheng patted Mu Xiaoyu’s shoulder.

Mu Xiaoyu straightened her back. Looking at Vice Temple Master Liang with utmost seriousness, she cupped her hands in greeting, acting neither haughty nor humble. "Xuanzhen Temple’s steward, Mu Xiaoyu, greets Fellow Daoist Liang."

Normally, when stewards introduced themselves, they would also state their specific position and the affairs they oversaw. However, since Mu Xiaoyu had no idea what her specific duties were, she could only simply call herself a "steward."

Faced with Steward Mu, Vice Temple Master Liang was stunned for a long moment before turning to Li Yinsheng. "Fellow Daoist Li, this is nothing to joke about," he said dryly.

"Junior Sister, show your Daoist Certificate and your steward Seal to Fellow Daoist Liang," Li Yinsheng instructed.

"A joke? Ridiculous!" Li Yinsheng thought to himself. "My junior sister went through all the official conferment processes. She is a steward personally appointed by me, the Temple Master, with all the proper paperwork!"

After seeing Mu Xiaoyu display her Daoist Certificate and Seal, Vice Temple Master Liang closed his gaping mouth. With an odd expression, he cupped his hands toward her. "Huang Bamboo Temple’s Vice Temple Master, Liang Chengfeng, greets Fellow Daoist Mu."

"You are too polite, Fellow Daoist Liang," Mu Xiaoyu returned the greeting with feigned maturity.

Li Yinsheng knocked her on the head, silently warning her not to get carried away. Mu Xiaoyu simply looked up at him and offered a cheeky grin.

"Since Mu... uh, Fellow Daoist Mu is indeed a steward of your esteemed temple, the nature of this matter is different," Vice Temple Master Liang said, his odd expression still not entirely gone.

"A conflict between disciples is one thing, but publicly targeting a steward of another Daoist Temple is entirely different. After all, a steward represents their temple to a certain extent.

"If we really want to scrutinize this matter strictly, Shouyi Temple is definitely the one lacking justification."

His underlying implication was that Li wiping out the other party right off the bat was also a bit out of line. But ultimately, Shouyi Temple was more out of bounds. When comparing the two, Shouyi Temple was undoubtedly the one in the wrong.

"However, Shouyi Temple has never been a reasonable Daoist Temple to begin with. I just fear they will argue aggressively even when they have no leg to stand on," Qi Jiushan chimed in from the side, his expression complicated.

Vice Temple Master Liang also felt a lingering sense of apprehension. After hesitating for a long moment, however, he spoke with utmost seriousness. "Regardless, this incident happened at our Huang Bamboo Temple and arose from purchasing Cultivation Fruits. Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, within our means, our Huang Bamboo Temple will uphold justice for you."

He realized that the talent and strength of this young Fellow Daoist before him were truly something he had never seen in his life.

No, not just seen—even considering the prodigies of the Zhengyang Dharma Vein and other Dharma Veins he had heard rumors about, this Li was not the slightest bit inferior. With such Cultivation at his age, his future ascent to becoming a Daoist was practically set in stone. He might even have a considerable chance of reaching the higher Divine Travel Realm and becoming a Grand Daoist.

Grand Daoists of the Divine Travel Realm... even within a Dharma Vein, they were existences second only to the Vein Master and the elders. Even Dharma Vein elders had to treat them with courtesy.

Shouyi Temple could act so tyrannically not just because of their connections to a Dharma Vein, but because they relied on the ten Daoists and two Grand Daoists of the Divine Travel Realm within their temple. As for the few Great Daoist Temples that could still maintain some dignity in the face of Shouyi Temple’s despotic power, their greatest backing also came from the Divine Travel Realm ancestors in their own temples.

Befriending a prodigy with such immense potential was entirely worth it, even if it meant risking some conflict with Shouyi Temple. After all, getting along with Shouyi Temple wouldn’t yield any benefits anyway.

Besides, while Huang Bamboo Temple didn’t have a Grand Daoist of the Divine Travel Realm, the Cultivation of their own Daoists wasn’t bad. Furthermore, as Huang Bamboo Temple had supplied Cultivation Fruits to the Zhengyang Dharma Vein and other Dharma Veins for many years, they naturally had cultivated a fair number of connections, even if they lacked a stable, massive backer like Shouyi Temple.

If they really wanted to take a tough stance against Shouyi Temple, they definitely had the backbone to do so!

However... deciding whether to publicly support Fellow Daoist Li, and how much effort to exert, wasn’t something a mere Vice Temple Master like him could determine on his own. He still had to send a message back to his temple and report to his senior brother, the Temple Master, and the Daoist ancestors before a decision could be made.

Consequently, Vice Temple Master Liang ultimately didn’t give Li Yinsheng any highly specific promises, only stating that he would support him "within their means."

He then requested Li Yinsheng to undo the net and release the people from Shouyi Temple, before ordering the disciples from Huang Bamboo Temple’s Huichun Hall to hurry over and treat them.

After arranging everything properly, Vice Temple Master Liang bid farewell to Li Yinsheng and hurriedly dragged Qi Jiushan away.

Li Yinsheng, on the other hand, escorted Mu Xiaoyu back to the patrol disciples’ residence before returning alone to his Bamboo House.

Meanwhile, on a nameless hill dozens of miles away from Bamboo Forest Peak.

A figure wearing a Shouyi Temple Steward Daoist Robe, holding a Compass in hand, landed in front of a mountain wall.

If Li Yinsheng or Mu Xiaoyu had been there, they would have recognized him as the other steward who had accompanied Steward Xu on their first day arriving at Bamboo Forest Peak. This person was reticent and kept a low profile. Because he hadn’t spoken up to provoke Li Yinsheng, Li had only taught Steward Xu a lesson and completely ignored him.

Standing before the stone wall, he first checked his Compass to ensure he hadn’t found the wrong place. Then, he bowed deeply toward the wall, bending over almost entirely, and spoke respectfully, "Junior Chen Rui greets Ancestor Chongyun."

For the consistently arrogant members of Shouyi Temple, performing such a grand bow was an exceedingly rare sight.

"Junior, you really don’t understand etiquette. You see me, yet you dare not kneel?!" a hoarse, gloomy voice echoed from the stone wall.

In the next instant, the steward calling himself Chen Rui felt a tremendous force descend from the sky. His knees gave way, and he immediately crashed to his knees. His knees, elbows, and forehead smashed into the ground simultaneously, forming a flawless prostration.

"S-Senior, please forgive me! This is my first time seeking an audience with a Daoist Ancestor, and I... I do not know the proper etiquette... Please forgive me, Ancestor..." Chen Rui begged for mercy repeatedly.

"Hmph." With a cold snort from the stone wall, the heavy pressure bearing down on Chen Rui vanished.

"The dignified number one Daoist Temple of the Zhengyang Dharma Vein has stewards who don’t even know basic etiquette. You’re worse than a random, ordinary Gu Slave in my Thousand Insects Valley. It seems your temple is nothing but an empty name, hehehe..." The voice from the wall let out a few strange laughs. "Junior, come in."

Chen Rui lifted his head, only to see the stone wall tremble. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating from the Daoist’s oppressive aura.

But in the very next moment, the stone wall parted right before his eyes like two massive doors.

Glancing up, he saw a colossal silhouette over a hundred feet tall emerging in the night, sprawling with jointed limbs. It was only then that he realized the thing standing before him wasn’t a stone wall at all, but a massive pair of insect elytra!

It was a bizarre giant insect as tall as a building. It stood there, shapeshifting its form, leaving only its earth-colored wing casings completely shut to mimic a mountain wall.

As these wing casings spread open, what lay beneath wasn’t the insect’s body, but rather a deep, dark void.

Gulping hard, Chen Rui stepped into the void. His nose was immediately assaulted by a gloomy smell that wasn’t exactly damp or rotten, but simply made his entire body uncomfortable. It felt as if he had stepped into a cave devoid of sunlight year-round, crawling with all sorts of damp-loving creepy-crawlies.

After taking just a few steps, his vision suddenly opened up.

Inside a stone chamber spanning hundreds of feet, a middle-aged man dressed in black, his hair and beard matted and protruding wildly, was meditating with his eyes closed. His attire was neither like a monk’s nor a Daoist’s. He wore a tattered black robe and had a Rosary draped around his neck. Looking to be in his early forties, he sported a mustache as thin as a centipede’s antennae.

Chen Rui hastily prostrated himself again. "Shouyi Temple’s Outer Affairs Hall Steward, Chen Rui, greets Senior. This junior has come on the orders of Ancestor Cen Yi of my temple to assist you in achieving your grand plan."

"Cen Yi?" The man slightly opened his eyes. "Hmph, that old ghost must be almost two hundred and fifty years old by now. He’s still dragging out his life and refusing to die?"

Chen Rui shivered, remaining utterly silent.

"Didn’t your Shouyi Temple say they would send a Vice Temple Master?" Daoist Chongyun asked with a cold sneer. "Why is it just a lowly steward like you?"

"To answer Senior, my senior brother just arrived at Bamboo Forest Peak tonight. It would be inappropriate for him to leave directly, lest his suspicious movements draw the guard of the Huang Bamboo Temple’s people and lead them to discover your arrangements," Chen Rui hurriedly explained.

"Discover? Ridiculous!" Daoist Chongyun scoffed. "My arrangements on that mountain have been hidden for nearly twenty years. Even when that old geezer from Huang Bamboo Temple came personally, he couldn’t spot a single clue.

"Sigh, you juniors. If you’re timid and hesitant, just say so. Why must you use the excuse of being considerate of me? Hypocrites!"

Chen Rui shrank his neck but still mustered the courage to ask, "Senior, will those Gu... Spiritual Insects of yours truly go undiscovered? Our Shouyi Temple is taking an enormous risk assisting you this time. If this matter is exposed..."

"What does that have to do with me?" Daoist Chongyun asked in return. "Would the Zhengyang Dharma Vein dare to run into the Thousand Insects Valley to cause trouble for me?"

Chen Rui instantly looked utterly terrified, his eyes widening in shock.

It was true that the Zhengyang Dharma Vein couldn’t stir up trouble in the Thousand Insects Valley, but Shouyi Temple was directly under the Dharma Vein’s jurisdiction! If this matter were exposed, the consequences were too horrifying to even imagine.

He felt as if he could already see the Celestial Thunder of the legendary Law Enforcement Cultivators—capable of completely annihilating the Soul—rolling above his head. Even though he was already kneeling on the ground, his legs felt so weak that he felt like he might collapse entirely at any second.

Daoist Chongyun burst into loud laughter at the sight of Chen Rui’s terrified expression. "Hahaha...

"You junior, you really can’t take a joke! I was merely teasing you; how did you get so scared?

"Hehehe... don’t worry. I swore a blood oath with that old ghost Tianfu of your Shouyi Temple. If I really threw you under the bus, I wouldn’t end up well either. We’re like mosquitoes in the same boat."

This person spoke in a neurotic manner. Just moments ago, he had been aggressively overbearing, yet now he had suddenly softened.

"Don’t you mean grasshoppers in the same boat?" Chen Rui corrected tremblingly.

Since mosquitoes could fly, why would they need a boat?

"How dare you! What the hell is a grasshopper? How can it compare to a mosquito!" Daoist Chongyun roared furiously.

"Yes, yes, yes, Senior is absolutely right! Mosquitoes, we’re mosquitoes!" Chen Rui hastily agreed.

"Hmph, enough. Rest assured about the concealment. My precious babies are all buried underground, sleeping in their cocoons with almost zero aura. Plus, with my Magical Treasure hiding them..." Daoist Chongyun said confidently, "unless a Grand Daoist of the Divine Travel Realm appears, it is absolutely impossible for them to be discovered!"

Chen Rui breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, no more nonsense. Just remember: I want those bamboos and Cultivation Fruits from Huang Bamboo Temple, and you want that mountain peak with the Broken Spirit Vein from them. This is mutually beneficial.

"Therefore, you juniors must do your utmost and handle things well for me!

"If you cause any flaws in my grand plan and it falls short of success, don’t even think about getting what you want, understand?"

Watching Chen Rui nod like a pounding garlic mortar, Daoist Chongyun nodded in satisfaction. "Junior, remember this well. I will deploy as follows..."

Late at night, inside Li Yinsheng’s own Bamboo House.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he shifted his thoughts, and his Soul flew out from his Flesh Body.

In an instant, his Divine Sense’s acuity was magnified more than tenfold. Every rustle of the wind in the grass and every flow of Qi across the entire Bamboo Forest Peak was completely within his grasp.